Václav Brožík

Václav Brožík (pronounced [vɑ:tslaf br̩oʒiːk]; 6 March 1851, Třemošná – 15 April 1901 Paris) was a Czech painter who worked in the academic style.

Václav Brožík
Václav Brožík
Václav Brožík
Born(1851-03-06)6 March 1851
Třemošná, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Czech Republic)
Died15 April 1901(1901-04-15) (aged 50)
Paris, France
NationalityCzech
EducationAcademy of Fine Arts in Prague
Known forPainting
Notable workJan Hus before the Council of Constance (1883)
Tu Felix Austria Nube (1886)
MovementAcademicism
SpouseHermine Sedelmayer
AwardsGold medal winner at the Salon (1878)
Legion of Honour (1884)
Ennobled by Emperor Franz Joseph I (1887)
ElectedInstitut de France (1896)
Comenius says goodbye to Karel the Elder of Zierotin (1873)

Life

He came from a poor family, studying lithography and porcelain painting through apprenticeships. Beginning in 1868, with financial assistance from a local landowner, he was able to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. He made a trip to the Netherlands, where he studied the Old Masters, then settled in Paris (despite not being able to speak French), where a letter of recommendation assured him the support of Jaroslav Čermák. In 1879 he married Hermina Sedelmeyer, daughter of the wealthy Parisian art dealer Charles Sedelmeyer.[1] For most of his life, he divided his time between Paris and Prague, where he became a Professor at the Art Academy in 1893.

He was named a member of the Institut de France, partly through the influence of his father-in-law, who also suggested that he do a painting on the theme "Tu Felix Austria Nube" (from an old saying: "Let others wage war: thou, happy Austria, marry").[2] The result pleased Emperor Franz Joseph I, who was involved in an unhappy marriage. As a result, Brožík was elevated to the nobility.[1]

He also became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts, received the Grand Cross of the Légion d'Honneur[3] and was appointed to the Czech Academy of Arts and Sciences.[4] One of his 1884 paintings, showing Columbus soliciting the aid of Queen Isabella, appeared on a United States postage stamp in 1893.[5] [6]

His health began to decline in 1894, but he threw himself into painting even more diligently. He died suddenly of heart failure in 1901 and was buried in Montmartre.[1] Appreciation of his work suffered a serious decline after his death, as it was considered old-fashioned, but a major retrospective in 2003 has created some renewed interest.

References
  1. 4 pictures and biography at Art Renewal Center
  2. "The World of the Habsburgs: Tu Felix Austria Nube in context". Die Welt der Habsburger.
  3. Kdo byl kdo v našich dějinách do roku 1918, by Pavel Augusta. Libri, Prague (1998) p.54 ISBN 80-8598-306-0
  4. Šlechtová, Alena and Levora, Josef: Členové České akademie věd a umění 1890–1952, 2nd edition, Academia Prague (2004) ISBN 80-200-1066-1
  5. "Gerhard Batz: Das erste Kunstwerk eines tschechischen Künstlers auf Briefmarken (United States postage stamp based on a painting by Brožík)". batz-hausen.de.
  6. "About U.S. Stamps: Columbian Exposition Issues (1893)". Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum.

Further reading
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